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Notable people · Religious Leader · Author

William Montgomery Brown

An Episcopal bishop who lived in Galion from 1883. In 1924-25 his own church tried him for heresy after he published writings that mixed Christianity with communism. He died in Galion and is buried there.

At a glance

Born
1855-09-04
Died
1937-10-31
Education
Seabury Divinity School, Faribault, MN, 1879-1880
Bexley Hall, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, to 1883, none; honorary D.D. 1898
Known as
Religious Leader, Author
Organizations
Episcopal Church, Grace Church, Galion, Kenyon College

Life story

William Montgomery Brown was born on a farm near Orrville in 1855. His father, a tenant farmer, died in the Civil War, and at 15 William was placed with a farmer whose Methodist faith shaped him.

He trained for the ministry at Seabury Divinity School and Bexley Hall at Kenyon College, finishing in 1883 without a formal divinity degree. That year he was ordained and became vicar of Grace Church in Galion, where he stayed for the rest of his life. He married Ella Scranton Bradford in 1882, and Brownella Cottage in Galion, built in 1887, was a wedding gift.

He became assistant bishop of Arkansas in 1898 and bishop in 1899, and resigned in 1912. Later books, including Communism and Christianism (1920), pushed him away from his church's teaching. In 1924-25 he was tried for heresy, found guilty and deposed, and then became a bishop in an Old Catholic body. His will gave money to the Galion hospital and to Kenyon College.

Timeline

  • 1855-09-04: Born on a farm west of Orrville (Orrville, OH) source
  • 1862-08-01: Father dies after Civil War enlistment source
  • 1882-12: Marries Ella Scranton Bradford source
  • 1883: Finishes seminary at Bexley Hall; ordained; becomes vicar of Grace Church (Galion, OH) source
  • 1891: Named archdeacon for missionary work in the Diocese of Ohio (OH) source
  • 1899: Becomes Bishop of Arkansas (Arkansas) source
  • 1912: Resigns as bishop source
  • 1924: Tried for heresy; declared guilty and deposed (1924-25) source
  • 1937-10-31: Dies in Galion (Galion, OH) source

What William is known for

  • Bishop of Arkansas 1899-1912
  • Tried for heresy by the Episcopal Church 1924-25; found guilty and deposed
  • Author of Communism and Christianism (1920)
  • The Church for Americans (1895)
  • The Crucial Race Question (1907)
  • The Level Plan for Church Union (1909)
  • Communism and Christianism (1920)

Honors and things named for them

  • Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Kenyon College, 1898

Family

  • wife: Ella Scranton Bradford Brown

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where William Montgomery Brown was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • Wikipedia's lead says he was the first bishop of his church tried for heresy since the Reformation; that claim rests on a single source.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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